Top 10 Best Songs about Texas
1
Sir Douglas Quintet
“She’s About a Mover”
If anything, the song sounds more audacious now than it did when it first shot to number thirteen on the national charts in 1965, at the height of the British Invasion. First, you’ve got that two-step rhythm—always common in regional Tex-Mex, country, and Cajun-zydeco but not in rock and roll, not then or now. Then you’ve got those maniacal dit-dit-dit-dits from organ jockey Augie Meyers; he claims he owned the first Vox in the nation, which supposedly provided the English vibe, but the way he used it mainly served to make a direct connection with Tex-Mex accordion. Finally, there’s Doug Sahm’s great, and always underappreciated, rock vocals—hard and fast, with a Little Richard-like intensity, but also still melodic—and his delightfully cockeyed lyrics and title. Which make more sense, actually, if you know that the song was originally called “She’s a Body Mover,” an offhand comment Sahm had made about a girl dirty-dancing at one of his shows. But what’s most amazing is that a giddier and less-worldly rock audience back then actually bought manager-producer Huey P. Meaux’s hype that this racially mixed group (white and brown) was the newest sensation from England. That ruse lasted only until the heavily accented musicians first opened their mouths in public for any purpose except singing—yet the song endures. And the reason is that sound. You could say that it couldn’t possibly have come from nowhar else but Texas, but even that’s a little vague; “She’s About a Mover” couldn’t possibly have come from nowhar else but San Antone.
2
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
“New San Antonio Rose”
The King of Western Swing’s all-time best-seller is also a great example of his particular genius: If a more conventional big band had cut this, it would have been considered a pop record. When Waco’s Playboys recorded “San Antonio Rose” as an instrumental, in 1938, country fiddle and steel took the leads. When Wills added lyrics and cut the new version nearly two years later, he kept nothing but the original, traditional melody; the song was all reeds and brass, like any other big-band swing record of the day. The music was upbeat and happy, while Tommy Duncan’s vocals mourned a loss he just couldn’t shake (”Moon in all your splendor/Known only to my heart/Call back my rose/Rose of San Antone”). And dancers knew exactly what this meant, because nobody made feeling bad feel better than these guys.
3
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
“That’ll Be the Day”
Where all the bravado came from is anybody’s guess. Even by 1957 standards, this Lubbock teen looked, well, like a geek. But there was no denying the song Holly and his band, the Crickets, rolled out from Norman Petty’s Clovis, New Mexico, studio onto the national stage. “That’ll Be the Day” borrowed its title from the catchphrase of John Wayne’s character in The Searchers and boasted a swagger worthy of the Duke. “You say you’re gonna leave,” Holly taunts. “You know it’s a lie ’cause/That’ll be the day when I die.” Musically, with pounding drums and precision studio guitar and vocal work, its innovations weren’t confined to it being a rock and roll recording. “Day” kicked off what would prove to be an enduring body of work. Unfortunately, Holly had an all too short eighteen months left.
4
Willie Nelson
“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
With one spare, simple, acoustic ballad, Nelson established the mid-seventies “outlaw” movement and took country music back from the Nashville hacks. Successful as a songwriter but stymied as an artist, Willie fled Music City for his native Texas in 1971, intent on making his own music on Red Headed Stranger, which was so out of step with prevailing sounds that his label first dismissed it as a bunch of demos it didn’t want to release. The bloody song cycle about murder, revenge, and redemption in the Old West was tempered by this sweetly sentimental single. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” like the rest of the album, was as full of wide-open space as West Texas itself. Those spaces proved to be the silence heard ’round the world.
5
Archie Bell and the Drells
“Tighten Up”
Has there ever been a greater party record? With a snake of a bass line, syncopated guitar, and Bell’s immortal intro, this 1968 gem begins. “Hi, everybody! I’m Archie Bell and the Drells, of Houston, Texas.” (He did have a band.) “We just thought of a new dance called the Tighten Up.” And then, just to be sure you got it, “This is the music we tighten up with.” Bell yells entrance cues like a sideline coach. “Now make it mellow!” he shouts, as a horn coda takes everything down—for two bars. The band comes back full-bore, Bell now singing among the horns; there’s clapping, shouting. On it goes, never deviating from the same cheesy riff, for two minutes and thirty seconds of joyous abandon.
6
Bobby Fuller Four
“I Fought the Law”
In which four tuff and tender guys from El Paso provide a bridge from path-breaking fifties rock and roll to mind-blowing sixties rock. Fuller yoked Buddy Holly’s Tex-Mex grooves to a rockabilly attack, an eclectic guitar flash, and vocal harmonies that owed much to the Beatles and early folk rock; he wrapped it in contemporary production and engineering that was all presence. Since the punk-rock era, Fuller’s only top ten hit, released in 1966, just before his untimely and mysterious death, has come to be seen as a rebel classic, and rightfully so. The rat-tat-tat of the rhythm section is as unnerving as the overdubbed gunshots at the beginning of the song; there’s been very little else in white pop music with such propulsive thrust.
7
Blind Willie Johnson
“Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground”
Vamping for half a minute on slide guitar lines so expressive they sound like a language, Johnson breaks into a wordless moan that’s as chilling as anything ever heard in music. For its intensity and stark sadness, his 1927 recording of the eighteenth-century crucifixion hymn stands like a beacon among the thirty recordings he left behind. But don’t call it the blues. In Johnson’s day, blues was the devil’s music, and the Marlin singer was a man of God. He mastered his stunning bottleneck guitar technique (he used a pocket knife) on the streets, and his voluminous croak rang over the din of the crowd. But Johnson brings it down to a near whisper for “Dark.” It’s as though he can’t bear to sing the words.
8
T-Bone Walker
“Stormy Monday Blues”
What do Jethro Tull and Manfred Mann have in common with Albert, Freddie, and B. B. King? They are among the hundreds who have recorded the 1947 anthem of the world’s most influential electric blues guitarist, Linden’s T-Bone Walker. With his fluid and far-reaching single-note guitar lines, Walker recalls another major talent, Charlie Christian. Christian and Walker knew each other and even shared a guitar tutor. Both had a taste for speed, but it was Walker’s relaxed, after-hours sides that best suited his smooth vocal style. As the most famous of these, “Stormy Monday Blues” settles into a resigned helplessness that’s hard to let go of. Just as it’s difficult to overstate Walker’s importance, it’s impossible to conceive of the modern blues without his unforgettable couplet: “They call it stormy Monday/But Tuesday’s just as bad.”
9
Little Joe y la Familia
“Las Nubes”
Fronting various bands, Temple’s Little Joe Hernandez had been riding near the top of the Tex-Mex circuit for close to two decades when he cut Para la Gente (”For the People”) in 1972 , the album that best gave voice to the emerging Brown Pride movement. Its version of this Mexican standard (”The Clouds”) is a hard-swinging, big-band ranchera; the lyrics tell of a drunken, despairing youth watching clouds drift by and hoping for rain, because rain brings new life. That attitude mirrored both current Chicano disillusionment and the faith to rise above it, and the song quickly spread through the Southwest to become the anthem of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers—and probably the first true great example in the modern style eventually dubbed tejano.
10
Janis Joplin
“Me and Bobby McGee”
In a neat bit of gender switching, Joplin turned Kris Kristofferson’s wistful tale of two lives intersecting into one of powerful longing. It wasn’t her choice of pronouns but her well-lived-in voice that transformed the song. Port Arthur-born, Joplin would become the finest white blues singer of her generation. Though she at first tended to elevate everything into a screech, by 1971, when she recorded “McGee” for her album Pearl, she had a newfound maturity on display, constantly lifting lines (”Windshield wipers slappin’ time”) and reigning them back in (”Holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine”). It made moments of found emotion, like the bitterness that springs from “. . . nothin’, that’s all that Bobby left me” all the more powerful and authentic. “Me and Bobby McGee” would be Joplin’s first number one single, but she would not live to see its release.
Allan, Fowler, and Bingham Will Rock Concrete Street This THURSDAY!!
Two of country music’s biggest rebels are back and ready to raise some Cain at Concrete Street Amphitheater.
Gary Allan will return to Corpus Christi and rock the stage along with Texas favorite Kevin Fowler and Ryan Bingham.
After almost a decade of musical success peppered with personal struggles, Allan has continued to stay on top of the music charts with hits like “Tough Little Boys,” “Man to Man,” and most recently, “Learning How to Bend.”
Through high school, Allan lived as a regular high school student by day and aspiring musician playing at bars by night. He turned down a record deal while still in school but soon after graduation, he signed with Decca Records Nashville. After two commercially unsuccessful album releases, 1999’s “Smoke Rings in the Dark” took Allan to the forefront of country music.
After his third wife, Angela Herzberg, committed suicide in 2004, the California native struggled with depression and strayed from the music scene to mend emotionally. After a year, he returned with the album, “Tough All Over.” He went on to say that songwriting served as therapy to help him recover from his wife’s death.
Last year, Allan released his most recent album, “Living Hard,” which has a much different sound than each of his previous records. “Living Hard” highlights Allan’s raspy vocals with a rock-influenced sound and electric guitars with songs like “She’s So California” and the title track.
“I think the fans are going to feel that this record is different,” Allan wrote on his Web site. “But the most important thing is that what I do is authentic. I’ve never pushed for a certain image. I’ve just always done my own thing.”
He credits his past experiences for his personal improvement as a writer and musician, although tunes aren’t the only thing drawing attention his way. On Sept. 22, Country Weekly named him among its list of top 10 Country’s Sexiest Men.
No stranger to Corpus Christi, Fowler is a local favorite. The self-proclaimed, 100 percent Texan is a regular performer at local festivals and shows.
Fowler has found success with his latest studio album, “Bring it On,” in the form of his single, “Best Mistake I Ever Made.” The single is his third on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
After splitting with his short-lived southern hard-rock band, Thunderfoot, a decade ago, Fowler took a stab at Texas country and released his first album, “Beer, Bait, and Ammo.”
He since has developed a large following of loyal fans that sing along to each and every song like “The Lord Loves the Drinkin’ Man” and “Hard Man to Love.”
sourece: caller times
What You Missed at Revolution Thursday…
Frankie J making a guest appearance with First Class Fiction at Revolution September 25th.
The night started off early and full of energy at Revolution as Rival City took the stage at 9:00, an hour earlier than their usual Thursday night set. For those of you who have never witnessed a Rival City performance, you are in for a treat! Rival City is a band from Austin Texas that touch on the rock, reggae, and hip-hop genres as well as incorporating their own touch into each set. Lead singer Mike Dynamo’s name says it all… He brings the energy to the show with his interaction with the crowd, his band, and the music itself. This guy really looks into what he does… not like he is half-assing it. I loved it.
The second band of the night was a group from San Diego California that many from the area might not have ever heard of. First Class Fiction was in town for their Bayfest performance on Saturday night and if Thursday was any indication at how their shows normally are— First Class Fiction was a show to not miss! Their music ranged from a more Rock-Powerpop sound which was different than what I’ve heard, but again it was not a disappointment! They even sang “Jealousy” and “Girls Girls Girls” which is available to hear off of their myspace… so go check that out!
Finally, an unannounced performance by Frankie J rocked the crowd at Revolution where it was standing room only. Frankie J sang a handful of songs including Obsession and Don’t Wanna Try as well as a new song with First Class Fiction, Be Gone which is also available to listen to on First Class Fiction’s playlist.
First Class Fiction continued the set after Frankie J’s performance and ended their set about 15 minutes until closing time. Nonetheless, Revo was the place to be last Thursday with 3 amazing shows with NO COVER and amazing drink specials all night.
Corpus, Prepare Yourself for Bayfest 2008
Bayfest 2008 kicks off its 3-day packed schedule on Friday, September 26th and goes until late Sunday, September 28th. The entertainment list alone is packed with sure show-stopping performances throughout the weekend during the day and night. This year the entertainment genres range from country, christian, and latin to rock, alternative, and r&b.
This year’s featured entertainment includes Bret Michaels, Steve Holy, as well as the 7 Stars headlining the Budweiser Stage Saturday night. However, don’t forget to include the local bands from your itinerary!! One of the shows this weekend features a band that is an up-and-coming band out of San Diego, California. First Class Fiction is a band that is under the wings of Corpus Christi’s Evident Music Group. With previous performances with artists such as Christina Aguilera, N*SYNC, Jessica Simpson, Simple Plan, Zebra Head, Frankie J, and Dishwalla, FCF is an act that you don’t want to miss!
Schedule of events
Friday
Budweiser Stage
6 p.m.: Silantro (Latin rock)
7 p.m.: N/Rumba (Latin/Salsa/Reggaeton)
8 p.m.: U.S. Medical Command Army Latin Band
9 p.m.: Ritmo Caribe (Latin/Salsa)
10:30 p.m.: Frankie Nagron (Latin/Salsa/Pop)
Miller Lite Stage
6 p.m.: TRADOC Rock (Rock/R&B/Country)
7:15 p.m.: Big Sexy (Latin)
8:45 p.m.: Del Castillo (Latin/Rock)
10:30 p.m.: Mingo Fishtrap (Soul/Funk)
Fuse Family Stage
6:30 p.m.: Hourglass Bellydance
7:15 p.m.: Falcon Folklorico Co. & Hypersquad Hip Hop with Feria De Las Flores
8:15 p.m.: H-E-B Buddy Meet ‘n’ Greet
8:45 p.m.: The Celtic Menagerie
9:30 p.m.: Marisa Montez (R&B//Hip Hop)
10:15 p.m.: F.D.M. (Rock)
11:15 p.m.: Refueled (Classic Rock)
Special Events
6 p.m.: Petting zoo and pony rides, Adventure Bay
6:30 p.m.: Reptile Adventures show
6:45 p.m.: Photography Contest Awards Ceremony
7 p.m.: Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show
8 p.m.: Reptile Adventures Show
Saturday
Budweiser Stage
Noon: Veterans Band of Corpus Christi (Military/Patriotic)
1 p.m.: Livon (Rock/Country)
2:15 p.m.: La Juventud (Spanish)
3:15 p.m.: TRADOC Rock (Rock /R&B/ Country)
4:15 p.m.: Stephani Abriana (Latin)
5:20 p.m.: Baby Jay (Hip Hop/Rap)
5:45 p.m.: Varcity squad (Hip Hop/ R&B/Rap)
6:15 p.m.: Quimikoz Del Son (Cumbia/Latin/Hip Hop Fusion)
7 p.m.: First Class Fiction (Rock/Power Pop)
8 p.m. to midnight: Melissa Lujan, Shawty Putt, Pleasure P of Pretty Ricky, MC Magic, Frankie J, Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, Pitbull
Miller Lite Stage
Noon: The Raspas (Reggae)
1 p.m.: Los Crawdaddies (Latin Rock)
2:15 p.m.: Dan Searcy & Cedar Fever Band (Country/Western Swing)
3:15 p.m.: U.S. Medical Command Army Latin Band
4:30 p.m.: The Earthtone Players (Rock)
5:30 p.m.: Rock-N-Blues Engine (Rock/Blues/Country)
6:30 p.m.: Flashback (Variety Pop Rock)
7:45 p.m.: Stewart Mann & The Statesboro Revue (Southern Rock/Blues/Americana)
9:15 p.m.: Brandon Ryder (Country/Pop/Acoustic)
10:45 p.m.: Steve Holy (Country)
Fuse Family Stage
12:15 p.m.: InStep Dance Studios
1 p.m.: Lions Den Ministry Martial Arts Demo
1:30 p.m.: H-E-B Buddy Meet ‘n’ Greet
2 p.m.: Buffalo Bill Wild West Show
2:45 p.m.: The Texas Riviera Cloggers
3:30 p.m.: Tippi Toes Dance
4 p.m.: Buffalo Bill Wild West Show
4:45 p.m.: Seir and The Spirit Belly Dancers
5:30 p.m.: Buffalo Bill Wild West Show
6:15 p.m.: Nancy Eisenhauer School of Twirling
7 p.m.: The Texas Gypsies
8 p.m.: Third Coast Salseros
8:45 p.m.: Identity CC (Christian)
9:45 p.m.: Double Shot (Classic Rock)
11 p.m.: Strange Dayz (Classic Rock)
Special events
Noon: Petting zoo and pony rides, Adventure Bay
12:30 p.m.: SpongeBob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
1 p.m.: Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show, and SpongeBob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
2 p.m.: SpongeBob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
2:30 p.m.: SpongeBob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
3 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet; Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show
3:30 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet
4 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet; Reptile Adventures Show
4:30 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet
5 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet; Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show
5:30 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet
6 p.m.: Reptile Adventures Show
7 p.m.: Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show; Pony rides close
8 p.m.: Reptile Adventures Show
9 p.m.: Petting zoo closes
Sunday
Budweiser stage
Noon: Blissful Noise (Rock/Pop Punk)
1 p.m.: Battle of the Bands winner
2 p.m.: Come December (Christian Rock)
3 p.m.: James Roots Band (Christian Rock
4 p.m.: Await The Day (Alternative/Indie/Rock)
5:30 p.m.: Eden Burning (Rock)
6:45 p.m.: Straightfork (Rock/Southern Rock/ Classic)
8:30 p.m.: Bret Michaels (Classic Rock/Rock)
Miller Lite Stage
Noon: TRADOC Rock (Rock/R&B/Country)
1:15 p.m.: La Distancia (Cumbia/Tejano)
2:15 p.m.: The Reely Rotnz (Rock/Punk Rock)
3:15 p.m.: U.S. Medical Command Army Latin Band
4:30 p.m.: The Eggmen (Rock Tribute)
5:45 p.m.: Patron (Conjunto/Tejano)
7 p.m.: Las Chicas De Canela (Cumbia/Tropical)
8:30 p.m.: David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, with special guests Jay Perez and Ram Herrera
Fuse Family Stage
12:30 p.m.: Ballet Nacional
1:15 p.m.: Joshua Flores (Christian)
2 p.m.: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
2:45 p.m.: Shireem’s Mystic Bellydancers & Drummers
3:45 p.m.: Pacific Islanders Show
4:30 p.m.: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
5:15 p.m.: Alcorta’s Folklorico de Corpus
6 p.m.: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
6:45 p.m.: The Texas Gypsies
7:45 p.m.: Hilda Lamas (Latin Rock/Variety)
9 p.m.: The Veterans’ Band Funky Horn Section (Funk/Soul/Oldies)
Special Events
Noon: Petting Zoo: Pony Rides -Adventure Bay
12:30 p.m.: Sponge Bob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
1 p.m.: Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show, and Sponge Bob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
2 p.m.: Sponge Bob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
2:30 p.m.: Sponge Bob and Patrick Meet-N-Greet
3 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet; Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show
3:30 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet
4 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet; Reptile Adventures Show
4:30 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet
5 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet; Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show
5:30 p.m.: Dora and Diego Meet-N-Greet
6 p.m.: Reptile Adventures Show
7 p.m.: Pony rides close
9 p.m.: Petting zoo closes
Schedule Provided by: Bayfest Committee
Get Ready for Mike Relm
Corpus better brace themselves for Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huckjam Presented By T-Mobile Sidekick Featuring Tony Hawk. BUT not because of the The Worlds best skateboarders, BMX riders, and Moto-xers *BUT* for special guest Mike Relm. I am sure not many people from Corpus Christi have ever heard of Mike Relm(He was at SXSW in 2006), but Relm is revolutionizing the sounds of scratch albums. He didn’t get where he’s at over night and actually started his career playing at school dances and house parties. Eventually, Relm perfected his skills to to earn him a win at the International Turntablist Federation’s US championship in ‘99. I was lucky enough to see Mike Relm in San Francisco prior to a Giants game, and it was one of those performances where everyone has to stop and begin to feel the music and the artist. Mike Relm, in my opinion, is the most creative turn table performer with capabilities of mixing virtually any two/three/four types of music together.
A video courtesy of DJVibe.com
Life House Concrete Street Pavilion June 8th
We are all back in LA now with a few weeks to relax and come down from the 3 months of buses, flights, fans, hotel rooms, interviews, sold out shows and adrenaline rushes… etc. Hollywood: Our rock and roll rehab.
Our last show of this leg was in Puerto Rico. It started off as a Dodge convention but somehow evolved to being one of the most intense arena rock shows of our lives. The convention had 22 thousand texts from fans trying to win free tickets; I think we wound up playing for most of them. Some girl was so excited she was pulling the cables out of my pedal board. I apologize to her for my bass tech trying to stomp on her fingers. The show must go on.
Another highlight was Montreal. Having lived there I recommended that management upgrade to the Metropolis after we sold out Club soda (a 900 seat club) in 3 days. The 3000 French Canadians went Bananas all night. Since most of us were sick, the guys got in a car to the hotel right after we finished the last song. I stayed to hang with some friends and the crowd refused to leave and chanted “Everything! Everything!” In thick accents for 20 minutes, stomping on the floor and throwing shit while the crew tore down the stage. We promise to play that song again. Promise! Tabernac!
I slept for like 14 hours in my own bed last night, being the last one home. I went to the folks’ house immediately after the tour to surprise the mother for mom’s day and hang with my high school buddies for our 10 year reunion. Can’t believe it’s been that long. We partied like it was 1998.
Now I recoup
ZZZZ
Source: Life House Music
Welcome to Corpus Concerts
Welcome to Corpus Concerts. The Coastal Bend’s Music Head Quarters. The site will be updated shortly with local Concert Calendar, Venues, and artists.
Bands looking for t-shirts and band merch head to http://rocketmerch.com/
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